RCEP

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a so-called mega-regional economic agreement being negotiated since 2012 between the 10 ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) governments and their six FTA partners: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

The negotiations have missed several deadlines repeatedly, even though they have gained momentum since 2016.

Concerns about the RCEP have been voiced in a number of contexts and cover a range of issues. A 2015 leaked text on intellectual property rights proposed by Japan’s negotiators confirmed concerns that the deal could go beyond the rules agreed to at the World Trade Organisation, known as the Trade Related Aspects of IPRs (TRIPS) agreement.

Various movements, including environmental groups, trade unions, domestic workers, farmers, hawkers, and people living with HIV have been raising their concerns over the trade deal since the text got leaked. Thousands of them marched against the harmful provisions in the trade deal, demanding transparency from governments, in Hyderabad, India, in July 2017 and organised a People’s Convention on RCEP.

The implications for access to medicines are even more alarming. Japan and South Korea are channeling demands by big pharma for longer patent terms and for monopoly rights over clinical trial data. These provisions could undermine access to price-lowering generic medicines, and thus, life-saving treatment for millions of people in the developing world.

On copyright and digital rights, groups say the deal could be “even worse than TPP or ACTA”, referring to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement that was stopped due to public pressure. On services and other chapters as well, the RCEP appears to overlap and compete with the higher-profile TPP agreement which has been signed by 11 Pacific Rim countries. (Seven of the states negotiating RCEP are TPP members.)

To date, no official text has been made public, even though the agreement would affect several billion people. This continues to fuel concerns. In fact, civil society groups were completely shut out of the 22nd negotiation round in Singapore in March 2018 while transnational corporations were invited for a business dialogue.

Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita has said that the government is planning to finish negotiations over the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) this year, as, currently, progress in negotiations stands at about 80 percent.

An amendment recently introduced in Thai parliaments will take seeds out of the hands of women, farmers and indigenous peoples who have kept seeds, shared seeds and developed a wealth of local knowledge on plant varieties— and put them instead in the hands of large corporations.

Thailand is expecting “some progress” towards finalisation of the long-delayed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) before July as a ministerial-level meeting is likely soon to address many of the pending issues.

Manila’s aggressive stance to push the immediate conclusion of the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has left local stakeholders—especially exporters and consumers—wondering if the Duterte administration is walking the talk in the form of safety nets and capacity-building programs.

Just a week after signing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) with nine other countries, Singapore and Australia vowed to “redouble” efforts to conclude an ambitious free-trade agreement among 16 Asia-Pacific countries this year.

In a speech at the Malaysia Business Forum, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez revealed that the RCEP will have substantial documents ready before the end of Singapore’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit. This was agreed upon by trade ministers of RCEP negotiating countries in their recent meeting in Singapore.

Following the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) last week, Malaysia is now shifting its focus to conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

With dairy being the stumbling block in getting a full free trade agreement (FTA) between India and New Zealand across the line anytime soon, the in-negotiation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), maybe the way forward for India-NZ trade ties to grow.

Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, said he was confident the meeting, which would be held in Singapore, would serve as a platform to bridge the gap between Asean and other countries.

The Philippines is demanding its fellow negotiating-countries in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to seriously commit to a speedy conclusion of their trade deal, as the latest round of talks still failed to progress beyond trade in goods modalities.

CPI(M) member of Assembly Rakesh Singha on Monday urged the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur that he should take up the matter with the Union Government so that Himachali Apple could be brought under Special Category product to over come duty free import of apple to Indian markets.

Japan’s role in RCEP negotiations appears to have been shaped by its participation in the TPP. Japan is now championing for expanded intellectual property right provisions which may block access to affordable medicines

12-Jul-2019GRAIN

The RCEP mega-trade agreement if adopted will change how governments decide on rights to land and who has access to it. Therefore, it has the potential to increase land grabbing across Asia – already a huge problem in this region.

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